The Six Million Dollar Man (1973)
Cyborg: The Six Million Dollar Man was the original pilot for The Six Million Dollar Man. It was later retitled as The Moon and the Desert in syndication. Trivia *''Cyborg: The Six Million Dollar Man'' orignally aired as a 90-minute made-for-TV movie. When the show was released into syndication, this movie was padded out with additional scenes taken from later episodes and split into two one-hour parts. This makes the episodes somewhat long and drawn-out; not to mention that the added scenes cause continuity errors. *The syndicated episodes of this movie do not use the opening credits in their original form. The opening credits from the series is used instead. *Footage taken from later episodes includes: The Bionic Woman, The Bionic Boy, and Dark Side of the Moon. *There are several aspects that are unique to the pilot, that did not make it into the actual show. **The organization that funds Steve Austin's bionic surgery is called the OSO or Office of Strategic Operations. This changes to OSI, the Office of Scientific Intelligence. Naming it the OSO keeps the premise of the pilot more in-line with Martin's Cadin's Cyborg novel, than the actual show did. **Oliver Spencer is Austin's superior, here. This character did not exist in the Cyborg novel, but could be interpreted as an amalgam of the Jackson McKay and Oscar Goldman characters. In the next movie, Wine, Women and War, Spencer is replaced by Oscar Goldman. **Actor Martin Balsam portrayed Dr. Rudy Wells. He is replaced by Alan Oppenheimer in the next movie. **The pilot actually strays from the novel by having Austin be a civilian member of NASA. In the show, he is an Air Force reserve Colonel attached to NASA, as in the novel. *The mission that Spencer sends Austin on in the pilot, is based on the second mission in Caidin's Cyborg novel. * Dr. Wells mentions that the manual to the bionic arm has 840 pages. * Wells states that the bionic arm is powered by a "nuclear powered electrical generator", and he points to what is clearly a mechanism on the arm. This is contradicted in a later episode, where it is said the arm uses a thermocouple to generate electricity. A thermocouple would look nothing like a generator, which the mechanism Wells pointed to does. *In the novel Cyborg, Steve Austin's bionics differ somewhat from those in the pilot. **Austin's bionics are powered by "flywheel" power sources, and a series of pulleys and gears derive their mechanical energy from these flywheels. **Austin's left arm is bionic in the novel, but in the show it's his right arm. **Austin's bionic eye cannot see in the novel. It is merely a photographic camera, activated by a switch near the eye socket under some false skin. In Caidin's later novel Cyborg IV, it is mentioned that the eye has been upgraded to do "range-finding": but Austin still can't see with it. **Austin cannot jump the great heights and lengths as seen in the series. **Austin's bionics in the novel have some additional capabilities, not seen in the show. A finger on his bionic hand is capable of firing projectiles. Storage compartments in the legs allow him to carry concealed items, such as an oxygen tank and breathing mask. A radio transceiver can be equipped in one leg, and his partially metallic rib cage can be used as an antenna. *In an excellent touch of attention to detail, when Austin is running through the desert on his mission, the perspiration is much heavier under Austin's left arm than it is on the right. Apparently, bionic limbs don't sweat. Nitpicks *Due to the use of added footage from later episodes, these new scenes introduce problems into the story. **Steve Austin's mission in the pilot, is merely to do a spacewalk. But the added scenes have him landing on the moon. Why would he do a spacewalk on his way to the moon? **There is an OSI logo on Austin's space suit. But at this point, the organization is called the OSO. **As Austin enters the lunar landing module on the moon, you see another astronaut in the background. But he was solo on his (spacewalk) mission. **Once again, a scene shows an office door with the OSI logo on it when it should be OSO. *When Dr. Wells speaks to a semi-conscious Austin on board a plane, on the way to the Colorado Springs research facility, the scene is actually taken from an earlier point where Austin is in hospital. Scenes Deleted In Syndication *There is a scene where Steve Austin is sitting with his shirt sleeve rolled up, and Dr. Wells is attending to his bionic arm. Exposed circuitry can be seen. This may have ocurred after the scene where Austin rescues the boy from the wrecked car. *A scene where children play a board game has been cut. (Not verified.) 001 Category:Six Million Dollar Man movies